MICHEL Award Ceremony
The Ape Star wins the MICHEL Film Award
5 October 2021
The MICHEL Children’s and Youth Film Festival ended with a bang with the turbulent film Even Mice Belong in Heaven. The MICHEL Film Award was won by the animated film The Ape Star. The screenplay by Janne Vierth is based on the children’s book “Apstjärnan” by Frida Nilsson, in which the orphan girl Jonna is adopted by a lady gorilla. A jury of children and young people chose their favourite from seven feature-length films for the MICHEL Film Award. The prize money of 5,000 euros is provided by the Körber Foundation.
The jury children explain their decision as follows: “In the last five days we have seen many different films. We have discussed a lot about the films, analysed and criticised them. In the end, it was not easy to make a decision with so many different and worth seeing films. Nevertheless, one film in particular touched us, made us think and made us laugh. The film has a great theme: it’s about family being what you make of it – whether it’s your biological parents or not. This important message was conveyed through great animation and playful details. That’s why we are happy to announce the winning film of the MICHEL Children’s and Youth Film Festival 2021: The Ape Star by Linda Hambäck!”
“We are very happy that our jury chose the heart-warming film about a little girl and one of the most important relationships in life, embedded in a (probably) timeless story, which really inspires every kind of age group and is thematically more topical than ever. Perhaps the likeable director Linda Hambäck has succeeded in creating a children’s film classic here, since after all the film is based on a very successful book,” explains MICHEL director Steffi Falk.
The director Linda Hambäck was very happy about the news. She is proud that The Ape Star has won its first prize and announced a gratitude message. Linda Hambäck was already present at the MICHEL in 2018 with her film Gordon & Paddy.
The 19th MICHEL Children’s and Youth Film Festival took place from 1 to 5 October at the Abaton Kino and showed seven international feature-length films, two new episodes of Die Pfefferkörner and a short film programme for the youngest festival audience aged four and up. “We had intense, exciting and fun days and are glad that everything went over the stage and screen without any major mishaps,” sums up Lotta Luley from MICHEL Film Festival. The organisers say a big thank you to everyone who was involved.
All pictures of the MICHEL closing event are available in the photo gallery.